


More Than Not, It's Been More than Words Can Tell

by SpraceJunkie



Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: (English as a Second Language), I'll add characters/tags as I need to, Jack is an immigrant from Peru, M/M, which makes him an ESL student
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 21:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14341503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpraceJunkie/pseuds/SpraceJunkie
Summary: Today on: Late Night Fic Ideas! We have one order of Dyslexic Jack paired with the fact that he's an immigrant from Peru, making English class hard for him, since it's hard enough to see Spanish straight, let alone a language that looks wrong even when it's right. Also, Davey who just wants to help and have an excuse to talk to Jack.





	More Than Not, It's Been More than Words Can Tell

Jack was not stupid, no matter how many times teachers seemed to think he was.

He could hardly be stupid when he spoke two languages, was good at math, knew more about art history than anyone else in his class, and could look up at the night sky and name as many constellations as any planetarium program could spout off, with the myths behind them.

Some people didn’t care about any of that, though, they only cared about his accent and how long it sometimes took him to get his Spanish thoughts into English words. Especially his literature teacher, who seemed to think he needed to be able to put all of his thoughts into words just as elegantly as the people who had been speaking English since they were born, even though he’d only been learning English for a few years.

In Spanish, he was smart. In Spanish, he understood the analogies and metaphors and symbolism in all the books they read, in Spanish he got it. He loved stories, he loved hearing them and reading them and telling them, with words and with paintings and drawings. In Spanish, he would have been doing well in English class, because in Spanish, he would have been able to say what he meant when he meant it, without having to awkwardly dance around grammar and words he wasn’t confident about.

In English, he was frustrated and tired and always behind, even when he worked harder than he ever had in Peru. He spent more time on homework now than he ever had before they’d moved, and still he felt like he’d never catch up on how much work there always was.

The people in his class knew it, too. Maybe some of them thought he just didn’t speak enough English to understand their insults, probably most of them just didn’t care if he knew they didn’t like him. They made fun of his accent, the mistakes he made in his writing, his spelling, his reading. They didn’t care that dyslexia made it hard enough for him to read in a language where the spelling made sense, let alone English, where even words that were right looked wrong.

More than anything, though, Jack was proud. He’d learned from his father before they’d ever moved that he would and could do things for himself, and that’s what he was determined to do. He would keep his head down and do his work, and that would be enough.

“Jack, that’s not the book you’re supposed to be reading.”

“It is. This is Of Mice and Men, see?” He held up the cover for the teacher to see.

“It’s in Spanish.”

“It’s easier for me to read.” Jack didn’t understand why his teacher was so convinced he couldn’t read the book in Spanish when it would get the point and story across just the same.

“Your English would get better if you read in English.”

“My English isn’t the problem. I understand English just fine.”

“So why not just read the English book?”

“Because reading English is harder than reading Spanish for me. I can’t tell if English words are just weird or if it’s dyslexia. In Spanish, I know.” Jack knew his teacher didn’t actually care if it was better for him or not, just that he did his work exactly how everyone else did. 

“I’d prefer it if you read the English.”

“I’d prefer to read the Spanish.” Jack met the teacher’s eye defiantly.

“Give me that copy and I’ll get you one in English.”

“I bought this copy. It’s mine. I would like to read it.” Jack heard a few of the other kids start whispering.

“Jack, you need to read the same book as the rest of the class.”

“This is the same book. De ratones y hombres _is_ Of Mice and Men. I’m reading the book, let me read the book.” Jack looked back down to the page, reading.

He didn’t particularly like this book. Steinbeck wasn’t his favorite author; he preferred mysteries and adventures over depressing slices of life, but he wasn’t going to let a teacher stop him from reading if he wanted to. What would take him a week in English he could read in a day in Spanish, and if he wanted to read his book in Spanish, he would. The teacher seemed to get that he wasn’t going to change his mind and eventually walked away, shaking his head.

By the time the bell rang, Jack was at least twice as far as he would have gotten if he had been reading an English copy.

“Jack! Wait, Jack!” He wasn’t used to people calling his name like they wanted to talk to him after class, especially not by somebody he’d never talked to before in his life. “Wait. Hi.” The boy, Davey if Jack was remembering right, smiled shyly at him.

“Hi.”

“I, um, I heard you talking with Mr. Alston. And if you ever need help with work I can help.” Jack studied his face cautiously. He didn’t sound like he was poking fun or trying to be condescending, just like he wanted to help. “I, um, I have dyslexia. I...I know what it’s like. Just if you wanted help is all.”

“What kind of help?”

“I can help you with reading. I mean, figuring out when it’s dyslexia and when it’s not. And I can help edit your papers, if you want. I don’t know; I just thought I’d ask.” Davey looked embarrassed now, nervous he’d overstepped. Jack was sure now that he wasn’t asking out of anything other than genuinely wanting to help Jack.

“When?”

“What?”

“When can you help me?”

“I have a study hall during fourth, or after school most days until spring.” Davey smiled at him. “I can do that. Or Sundays, I guess.”

“Wednesdays?” Jack asked. “After school. I don’t do anything then.”

“Okay! Does this Wednesday work?”

“Yes.” 

“After school in the library, then?”

“Okay.” Jack watched Davey walk away, slightly confused but in a much more pleasant way than usual. He felt like he just almost made a friend, or at least came closer than he normally did.

**Author's Note:**

> Hmm so Jack is from Peru and Davey is a useless gay who definitely has a halfway crush on him but doesn't know how to get to know him, so of course it makes sense to offer his help when Jack is struggling in English class? And if that leads to them being best friends, so be it, and if _that_ leads to them maybe dating, so be it, and if _that's_ Davey's biggest hope here, oh well, so be it.
> 
> Anyway, as always, I'm Asper, come hang out on Tumblr if you're not already @enby-crutchie, I love chatting!
> 
> Leave a comment if you want to, I'd really appreciate it!


End file.
